Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of small modular reactor projects on (a) long-term waste management and (b) decommissioning.

Under the Energy Act 2008, prospective operators of nuclear power stations providing power directly to the grid are required to have a Funded Decommissioning Programme (FDP), making arrangements to cover the full costs of decommissioning and their full share of waste management and disposal costs, approved by the Secretary of State before nuclear-related construction can begin, and to then comply with that programme thereafter.

Based on current proposals for small modular reactors, the government anticipates that waste from such projects would be largely similar in nature to the current operating fleet, with low level waste disposable in existing facilities, while more hazardous waste would be stored pending disposal in a geological disposal facility when it becomes available.